I. Field
The following description relates generally to wireless communications and more particularly to reducing interference and increasing capacity in ad hoc wireless communication networks.
II. Background
Wireless communication networks are commonly utilized to communicate information regardless of where a user is located (inside or outside a structure) and whether a user is stationary or moving (e.g., in a vehicle, walking). Generally, wireless communication networks are established through a mobile device communicating with a base station, access point or node as commonly referred to in the art. The access point covers a geographic range or cell and, as the mobile device is operated, it may move in and out of these geographic cells. To achieve uninterrupted communication the mobile device deregisters with the cell it is exiting and registers with the cell it has entered.
In some embodiments, a network can be constructed utilizing solely peer-to-peer communication without utilizing access points. In further embodiments, the network can include both access points (infrastructure mode) and peer-to-peer communication. These types of infrastructure are referred to as ad-hoc networks or independent basic service sets (IBSS). Ad-hoc networks can be self-configuring whereby when a mobile device (or access point) receives communication from another mobile device, the other mobile device is added to the network. As the mobile devices leave the area, they are dynamically removed from the network. Thus, the topography of the network can be constantly changing.
In both ad hoc and infrastructure wireless networks, interference can be caused by a plurality of factors, including data transmissions that affect communication of data to neighboring nodes. In an infrastructure mode, access points can be moved or oriented differently to reduce some interference. However, in ad-hoc networks, where there may be no centralized transmission, a device in the vicinity can cause the interference. Attempts have been made to reduce interfere with closed loop power control, time hopping, or frequency hopping techniques. However, the reduction of interference utilizing such techniques is not effective when either interference avoidance and/or when closed loop is disabled. Overcoming the aforementioned problems, can increase capacity and quality of data transfer in ad-hoc voice communication networks. Reduction of latency associated with overhead channels, such as the acknowledgment, power control and pilot channels can also increase communication efficiency. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide solutions to the above identified problems.